2:12-13a Speaking for the Lord, Joel urged his hearers even now--even though judgment was threatened--to repent. However, he clarified that their repentance needed to be wholehearted, not just external. Fasting, weeping, and mourning would give evidence of the people's sincerity, but they had to rend their hearts, not just their garments, as was customary in mourning. They needed to return to Yahweh their God.
2:13b-14 If they did, they could count on His being gracious, compassionate, patient, loyal to them, and willing not to punish them (cf. Exod. 34:6; Neh. 9:17; Ps. 103:8; 143:8; Jon. 4:2). Their genuine repentance might--Yahweh is still sovereign--move Him to turn from His previously intended course of action and bless, rather than curse, them (cf. Mal. 3:7).22Agricultural blessings would signal a reversal of His judgment in the recent locust invasion, and they would then be able to offer grain and wine to the Lord again (cf. 1:9, 13).
